


Sins of the Father

by dinkitandrhinkit



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: F/M, Infidelity, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Religion is heavily featured, obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 04:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14252874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinkitandrhinkit/pseuds/dinkitandrhinkit
Summary: Father Link Neal has dedicated his life to the church and wants to atone for his sinful feelings.It all goes wrong when he is assigned to his new parish and he meets a man that intrigues and attracts him.





	Sins of the Father

**Author's Note:**

> This concept has been done by better authors than me, but I decided to do it anyway. 
> 
> Loosely inspired also by an Australian novel that I've read about 10 times called The Thorn Birds. It's really, incredibly long and features a priest that I'm using as a very, very loose basis for Father Neal here. 
> 
> I'm not religious. My father's family is very Catholic, but I'm not, so all my knowledge is from Google. As an atheist, I'm doing my best. 
> 
> This is probably going to be quite long.

As soon as Father Neal had stepped foot in the seminary, he'd been warned.  
  
"You're young, you're attractive. Temptation is not easy, my son," The Cardinal took him aside one day. "Women in your parish will try, and you must resist."  
  
Cardinal O'Brien had taken a liking to him and taken him under his wing. There was something about the young man that the Cardinal liked. He saw himself in the younger man, idealistic and committed.  
  
Charles Lincoln, or Link, was dedicated to his calling as a man of God. More than any of his fellow priests in training. He truly gave all of himself for the church and the Cardinal would have been envious of it, if envy wasn't a sin. He wanted to nurture that righteousness and mold him into a better priest than he was.  
  
All Father Neal's classmates were envious of him. Why would a man such as he, a rich, southern gentleman, an only child, choose to become a priest? He could easily find a beautiful wife and have a brood of beautiful children to carry on his family name.  
  
There must be something wrong with him, they decided. Every attempt to find out what was met with nothing but calm acceptance from Link. He would not rise to the bait or lower himself to their level of pettiness.  
  
But every time someone would mention the temptation that awaited him, Father Neal would smile serenely and nod, completely unfazed by the idea of seduction.  
  
In truth, he had to keep himself from laughing. The women held absolutely no allurement for him. He couldn't tell any of his fellow priests, knowing his secret wouldn't be safe. Luckily what was said in confession stayed in confession and even then, this was something he hadn't confessed to for many years.  
  
The truth of why he had chosen the priesthood had everything to do with temptation, but not in the way they all imagined.  
  
There was no scandal that had driven him there. No mistress. No illegitimate children. He had kept himself pure, despite what the others said.  
  
But in his mind, he was anything but pure. He lusted, just like any other man. But unlike every other man, his lust was not for the fair skin and flowing hair of the women that flocked around him.  
  
It was for the sunkissed, work toughened hands of the working men. The hard muscle and manly sweat.  
  
Link didn't understand why he was this way. He'd prayed every single day since puberty hit, begging for relief, begging for God to fix him. Why had God made him this way?  
  
Eventually he had accepted it. In every other way, he was blessed. He had been born into a position of wealth and power. Along with that came education and opportunity. He had a natural tendency towards curiosity and while book learning wasn't his strong suit, his natural enthusiasm for things that interested him meant he knew a lot on many different topics.  
  
And he had been told on many occasions that he was especially blessed with his looks. His dark hair and bright blue eyes made a stunning combination. He had always been admired and while he tried not to let it make him prideful, there had been times he had used it to his advantage.  
  
In fact, he used it for the church's advantage often. They needed parishioners to donate and if a smile and a compliment was all it took, Link would do it. It didn't sit well with him, but he knew it would ingratiate himself with the Cardinals and Archbishops and perhaps one day he would be able to call himself a Cardinal.  
  
This perversion inside of him was his cross to bear. This was his downfall and his condemnation. But he fought against it and it fuelled his desire to be a holy and devout servant to God.  
  
When he was ordained, his mother was there, proud and crying as he began his life as Father Neal. His father wasn't there. He couldn't bear to watch his only son throw away his chance to be the heir to their lineage, to carry on the Neal tradition and name his own son Charles Lincoln Neal IV.  
  
But even that couldn't ruin the way he felt, as he knelt on the altar and felt closer to God than he ever had before. He was reborn and from that moment he was no longer a man. He was a priest and he served God above all else.

Of course he eagerly awaited his orders. He was hoping for a large town, not a city perhaps, but somewhere large enough that he could have an impact. Somewhere he would be noticed by the bishops and gain his promotions. Somewhere where he could also begin anew.  
  
His orders came in 2 months after his ordination. He was to go to a little town by the name of Buies Creek. It was tiny, and not at all far from where he himself had grown up, in Raleigh.  
  
He had expressed his displeasure in the softest terms he knew how to the Cardinal, who simply shook his head sadly and rather cryptically said, "Sometimes from the smallest seeds come the tallest trees."  
  
Fat lot of good that did him.  
  
It was the opposite of everything he'd hoped for. But he had to follow his orders and so he found himself in front of the small, rundown church only a week later.  
  
The man who had met him and was his guide was a tiny, old man, Frank, who didn't speak much but to say what absolutely needed to be said. Link was glad. He wasn't in the mood for chit chat, having travelled endless dusty miles in the summer heat to get to this middle of no where town.  
  
What he'd seen of it didn't impress him, but he was determined that once he'd bathed and unpacked, he'd do his best to judge it fairly. He was an optimist at heart and he did try to make the best of things. If he was to be stuck here for the rest of his natural life, he might as well make the most of it.  
  
He understood the congregation was large, considering the population. It was a largely Catholic area, so he hoped he would be busy, travelling to make visits and give communion. That would be his one salvation.  
  
He also knew the population was older, so there'd be more last rites than baptisms, and that saddened him. Link loved children and he wished that he'd been fortunate enough to have some of his own one day. But along with his vows of obedience and poverty, which meant removing all claim to the Neal fortune, came the vow of chastity.  
  
Maybe that would've been the most challenging of the three if his inclinations were natural. Certainly his fellow priests opined the loss of female companionship.  
  
But for Link, he had long since reconciled himself to living a solitary existence. He could never and would never act on his impure thoughts. The fact he could use his abstinence to serve a greater purpose was his only saving grace.  
  
As he unpacked his megre luggage and slipped on his brand new soutane, he looked around the parsonage. He couldn't help but wonder how his life had led him here. But God Almighty had His plans and who was he to question them?  
  
He left the church grounds and walked. He had no particular destination in mind, just to explore the North Carolinian wilderness. It was so familiar, though it had been many years since he'd left it behind and he'd certainly never been to this particular place before.  
  
He never thought he'd be back in North Carolina, but here he was.  
  
He lost himself in the forest, eventually stumbling upon a farm. He had literally stumbled, and caught himself against a fence post. His palm had been grazed and blood had welled up. Link had never been good with blood. Most times he fainted.  
  
On this day he miraculously managed to stay conscious, but he still felt extremely ill. He was lucky to hear a horse's whinny and he followed the sound until he spied the stable. Out of the barn emerged a stable hand, who on seeing the priest, made his way over.  
  
It wasn't until he stood in front of Link that the man noticed his greeting had gone unanswered and the priest wavered in the setting sunlight. Link managed a feeble "hello," before the world went black.  
  
*****  
  
When Father Neal awoke, he was shrouded in the scent of hay and horses, a smell he was well familiar with from his childhood on the Neal property. He'd loved riding the horses and though it was beneath him, he would often help to clean the stables and groom the horses.

As much as he adored the beautiful creatures, in truth, his main draw to the barn had been a young man who had been briefly employed there. Link had been ten at the time and so enamoured with him, though at the time he hadn't understood why. Or he had denied it. Link could no longer remember the name, but his smile and the feelings it had inspired endured and had begun Link's descent into depravity.

He knew now, without opening his eyes that he was lying on a haystack, and he could hear the sniffling of several horses. His left hand stung, and he remembered hurting it before finding his way to a farm, where he presumably still was.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he was met with the view of a tall, topless man brushing a gorgeous strawberry roan foal. The little foal's coat almost perfectly matched the hair of the man tending him and if Link had been a painter he'd have wished for paints and a canvas to record the beauty before him. Unfortunately, art was his weakest subject and he struggled to draw a simple tree without it looking like a smudge.  
  
Regardless, he lay still, observing the man and beast, hoping to stay in that moment a while before his alertness was noticed and he would be forced to leave again. Unfortunately, the little creature saw his movement as he pushed his glasses up, in order to get a better look, and the other man's attention was drawn to where he lay.  
  
"Father Neal, I presume?" The man asked with a smile. His beard was bushy and whilst not unkempt, wasn't the style of the upper class. Most upper class preferred clean shaven faces and only the older gents sported facial hair. His accent was thick and unrefined, fitting of a servant.  
  
"Indeed, I am him. May I ask where I am?" Link sat up and the other man approached him, extending a hand to help him up. His injured hand stung where it met the other man's rough palm.  
  
Now the tall man was stood toe to toe with him, his height was even more impressive and imposing. Link had never felt so small or out of his depth, in his brand new, pressed soutane that definitely didn't belong in a stable.  
  
"You're on the McLaughlin farm," He smiled.  
  
"Oh." Link realized the information did him no good, only having been in the area since early that morning. The other man seemed to understand that, as he let out a gruff laugh. It was a hearty, honest laugh and Link found it reassuring, rather than patronising.  
  
"Did you ride over?"  
  
"No, I walked. How far is it back to the church?" It was getting late but he could certainly make the walk back before the sun had completely disappeared for the day.  
  
"About 6 miles." He looked perplexed by the fact the priest was planning to walk. Now that Link knew how far he'd wandered, he also started to doubt the intelligence of this plan.  
  
"Would you like to stay for dinner, Father? I'm sure there's room for another and we always welcome a man of God," The handsome stranger asked.  
  
Link never truly believed he was better than anyone else, even when his father insisted. After all, all men were God's creations and therefore equal in the eyes of the Lord. Still it was engrained in him to respect the wealthy and higher class first. He hated to think how it would look for his first dinner in this new town to be had at the servants table.  
  
"I'm afraid I must get back to the church. I have much to prepare for services on Sunday and I haven't finished unpacking."  
  
The stable hand looked disappointed, but he nodded his understanding.  
  
"Do you ride?"  
  
"I do," he smiled. The other man seemed to size him up before nodding and saddling a majestic chestnut horse.  
  
"This is Mary," he handed the reins over, "She's one of our best ladies out here," he pat her mane with affection and Link was amused by the gesture. It wasn't often the workers would openly display such tenderness towards the animals in their care. It was touching and Link again thought back to his favorite horse as a child, a brown mare named Sarah. He'd loved her dearly. 

"Thank you. I will return her tomorrow afternoon on my rounds," he said, but his statement was met with a shake of the head.  
  
"If I let you two out there alone at this time of night, without a light or knowing where you're going, I'd have to send out a search party tomorrow morning."  
  
He saddled a massive black horse and hoisted himself up, pulling on a checkered shirt as he did. Link scrabbled to follow suit, climbing up on the much smaller horse and following the stranger out into the twilight.  
  
They didn't talk much as the stranger guided them through the bush for several minutes, eventually finding a road and following it. He was right that Link would never have been able to find his way back on his own. He was fairly certain they were going the wrong way, but he trusted this man, despite not knowing him.  
  
As they rode, Link remembered why he'd loved this so much. Eventually though, the pace wasn't enough, so he pushed Mary faster and faster. She didn't seem to mind and if his companion noticed, he didn't say anything, simply matching Link's pace.  
  
Link did think he saw a brief smile twitch under his beard as he urged his own steed onwards.  
  
"So, Father Neal, I notice you have an accent mighty like those of the rich folks around here. You a North Carolinian?" He drawled. His own accent appeared to be slightly thicker and his voice was certainly deeper. Link suspected he was from farther south.  
  
"I was raised in Raleigh. You have a good ear for accents..." He paused and waited, surprised to discover he'd yet to learn the name of his second parishioner.  
  
"Rhett," he stuck his hand out and Link took it, leaning into it and off Mary, but being careful to stay balanced, not wanting to embarrass himself further.  
  
He was glad Rhett hadn't laughed at his fainting spell, but he didn't want to give the man more to gossip about. His first impressions mattered here, in his new home and congregation, and the grape vine of servants travelled faster than anything else he knew. He'd be the laughing stock quicker than he could ride Mary out of town.  
  
"I'm sorry to forget my manners, Father, and not introduce myself earlier."  
  
"That's perfectly fine, Rhett. I imagine I startled you. It's not often you would have fainting clergymen to tend for, along with the horses," he gave Rhett a smile and was met with a broad beam and another laugh in return. He was beginning to warm to this man, and it worried him. He had hoped to leave those feelings behind, filling himself with righteousness, washing himself clean of sin and vice. He had been naïve.  
  
"You can go faster, Father. This road is rarely travelled and never this late at night, save by me. I know Mary would appreciate the exercise," he grinned and Link's competitive nature kicked in. Despite no hint of it in the man's speech, Link could hear the dare and without warning, and without knowing which way to go, he spurred Mary to a canter before pushing into a gallop.  
  
He heard the indignant shout of Rhett behind him, but he didn't slow or look back. The wind whipped through his dark hair and his robe flew back, but he didn't pay any mind, enjoying the freedom of flying.  
  
It didn't take long for Rhett to catch up to him, but that was expected. Link hadn't had the joy of riding on horseback in at least half a decade, too used to carriages, and he tired out long before a man as young and fit as he should have. Besides, Rhett's horse was a giant and his strides were therefore much longer. Link felt he would have faired much the same in a leg race.  
  
Eventually the steeple came into focus above the treetops and Link admired the building in the dim light of the moon and stars. It was run down, but perhaps he could fix it up and make it more inviting. A place of worship deserved love and attention. He resolved this would be his first mission here.  
  
He dismounted on slightly shaky legs and Rhett dismounted too.

"You beat me," Link pretended to be put out, but he was smiling and out of breath.  
  
"Mary may be small and quick, but Charlie will always win when it comes to power," Rhett pat the black horse, a congratulations for a race won.  
  
Link recovered enough to say, "Thank you for your kindness, Rhett. I appreciate your help and guidance," he looked up at the beautiful blond man, bathed in starlight. His heart constricted and he struggled to bury the feelings again.  
  
"Not a problem, Father. I'm glad you're feeling better. Once you have settled in, please feel free to wander over to the farmstead again. You'd be most welcome," Rhett smiled a gentle smile down at him and Link couldn't help himself.  
  
"You can call me Link, if you'd like. Outside of the church, I find the formality is rather stifling." He regretted saying it. His father would have him whipped, becoming so familiar with a mere stable hand. Again. But he couldn't bring himself to take it back. There was something about this man that made him feel at ease.  
  
"Link?"  
  
"It's short for Lincoln," he stammered, "Well, I suppose more accurately Charles Lincoln. Link was simply a childhood nickname that stuck." And his father had hated it.  
  
"Charles Lincoln, huh? You sure are one of them rich folks, ain't you?" He swung himself back onto his horse's saddle and took Mary's reins back.  
  
"I was. However, the vow of poverty has ensured I no longer need worry about money."  
  
"That must be nice," Rhett grumbled and Link felt guilty. He was supposed to be an every man now, to relate to all his flock. Less than 24 hours in and he had already offended one of his two parishioners.  
  
"Money isn't everything. It has never brought me happiness. Money merely conceals the cracks from the outside world," he spoke from experience. He'd lost himself in memories and pain and when he glanced back up to meet the other man's gaze, he was watching him with an unreadable expression.  
  
"I can see why you are a priest. I look forward to your sermons."  
  
"Truth be told, I'm a little nervous for my first."  
  
"You will do fine, Father. God will guide you. I believe you'll do wonderful."  
  
Link tried not to smile and blush, though he doubted his success when he was met with a matching grin from Rhett.  
  
"I shall see you Sunday then?"  
  
"Indeed you will. I'll see you soon, Link," he nudged Charlie into a trot and Mary trotted obediently beside them.  
  
Link watched them go, feeling like a storm of emotions had taken up residence inside his heart. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been absent recently due to illness and being insanely busy. I hope by May I'll be back up and posting every week. 
> 
> As always, I'm an insecure person who would really love comments and kudos, so if you read it and liked it, please feel free to let me know. I do always appreciate it.


End file.
